merrion street

The Presidential Returning Officer, Barry Ryan, conducted the Ruling on Nominations (provided for in the Presidential Elections Act 1993) at 3pm this afternoon (Wednesday 26th September, 2018) in the Custom House, Dublin 1. Mr Justice Michael Twomey, acted as judicial assessor for the ruling. The closing time for receipt of nominations for the Presidential election had closed three hours earlier at 12 noon.

The ruling on nominations is a process where the Presidential Returning Officer rules on the validity of the nomination papers he has received over the past few weeks. During the ruling, the Presidential Returning Officer examined the nomination papers in the order in which they were received to ascertain whether the candidates were validly nominated. Every question relevant to the nomination of a person to be a candidate – including his or her eligibility for election – was open during the ruling.

The following were declared nominated as candidates at the election - Peter Joseph Casey, Gavin Duffy, Joan Freeman, Seán Gallagher, Michael D. Higgins and Liadh Ní Riada. The Presidential Returning Officer has now adjourned the election for the purpose of taking a poll on 26 October 2018 to determine who the next President of Ireland will be. He will be publishing the required Notice of Poll on the Presidential Website (www.presidentialelection.ie). This notice confirms the date of the poll and sets out the names and descriptions of the candidates standing nominated at the election and the order in which they will appear on the ballot paper. The notice will be copied to local returning officers who will also publish the notice in their constituencies in preparation for taking the poll in 40 constituencies.